Last Supper

#1

((The previous night had passed uneventfully after she fled from the mountain.))

Trekking all the way to the listening station had been an odious task for Kitty, far away as it was from the rest of the research station. The fresh snowfall had died down, the wind calm, leaving the island blanketed in a kind of eerie silence as she walked and walked, with the constant ringing as her only company. Her ears were alert for any signs of noise, ready for an ambush to happen at any moment, but to her surprise, she arrived without so much as a peep from her surroundings. As time passed, the island only grew more and more dead. All the better for her.

To Kitty's surprise, the listening station was very small, especially compared to the rest of the buildings that made up the station, but at least it was easy to recognize by the antenna on the roof. When she stepped inside, she was greeted by nothing but darkness and more ringing, the interior only illuminated by the sunlight pouring through the open door. She brought out her flashlight and flicked it on, shutting the door behind her as she moved in.

Since the announcements that morning, whenever she didn't need to worry about matters of animal survival, her thoughts drifted back to it. Matthew's name hadn't been listed out among the dead, which was annoying, but at least she still got the prize, in the end. Those thoughts would've been her main focus, had it not been for the explosion that abruptly cut Danya off. She hadn't been sure what to make of it then, and even now she still wasn't sure. Had there been some kind of accident, or was rescue actually on the way for the first time in years?

No. No, no it couldn't be, because if it was, then...

Perish the thought.

Kitty smelled the wafting scent of her latest meal and immediately went towards it like a moth to light, allowing it to banish any doubt from her mind. She could barely contain her excitement - pizza had always been a special treat back home, and she had only ever been allowed to eat it once a month or so, when her aunt and uncle deigned to buy it. To receive it here of all places was a very special reprieve from the constant horrors that plagued the last week of her life. By the time she got to it, sitting on a table next to all the presumably-defunct audio equipment and a rifle, she couldn't help but bounce with excitement, mouth already watering, ready to dig in.

When the first bite hit her tongue, she was ecstatic, the flavor almost electric. Despite being lukewarm, it still tasted far better than anything else she had eaten during the last week. If it had still been hot by the time she reached it, she might've even considered it the best pizza she had ever eaten. The only thing that could've made it better was more alcohol, but she wouldn't turn down the soda.

However, the good feelings could not last, for as she ate and ate, a dreadful thought crept into the back of her mind, one that made a knot form in the pit of her stomach. She would've loved to share this with her friends. Ren might be long gone at this point, but Kai and California were both still kicking. They would've enjoyed this too, at least if it hadn't been a reward for her latest murder spree. She stopped eating midway through her fifth slice, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

She couldn't be mad at them, not really, even if they had betrayed her. She only wanted them back in her life, by her side once more. She wished they had understood what she was doing, like Fitz had. Yet, if they did, then they wouldn't be themselves. Both of them were far better people than she had ever been. That's why they had become her friends to begin with. Kitty always kept a wall around her heart, and their kindness had been the ladder that they scaled to reach her.

A tear ran down her face, hitting the ground beneath her. She wiped the trail that it left behind away, and then shook her head to clear the thought as best she could. The word of the day was carefree. Carefree, carefree.

Carefree.

Kitty turned her attention to her latest weapon as she continued munching, the flavor of the pizza suddenly much less appetizing. It was some kind of long rifle, single shot going by the text inside the manual. Lugging around a third gun would be obnoxiously heavy, her two other guns and supplies already straining her back and legs when she hiked. It was still worth keeping though, because it filled a niche her other two guns didn't: long range combat. If she had this rifle when she was stalking Matthew, she could've popped him the back of the head easily, with no confusion over how to aim from that distance.

Perhaps she could adjust her operating strategy? She had been on the move a lot throughout her stay on the island, but maybe it would be good to find a place to camp out, remain more sedentary from then on, and allow peopel to come to her so she could blow their heads off. Pop, pop, pop, like balloons at the world's worst birthday party.

That sounded like a plan, but the question was where to set up? Maybe the trapping camp, she pondered. It was half-decent shelter versus roughing it in the forests, and a good enough lure to attract prey to her ravenous, open maw. The last time she had been there, she had been worried about the ghosts of her past misdeeds that haunted that place, but she wasn't afraid of them anymore. By now, they had long become a tempest, and if anything, and she couldn't feel her sins crawling up her back anymore.

By the time the meal was finished, and the bottle of coke drained, Kitty opted to stay, just like she had so many times before.

She waited.

And waited.

Waiting for that familiar beep to let her know her time was up.

Time passed, so much that her stay here felt like it was lasting far longer than any of the others.

Ultimately, the beep never came before Kitty's nerves got the better of her, and she departed with rifle in hand, unwilling to push her luck any further.

((The empty pizza box and bottle of soda were the only evidence she left behind.))